Romeo Langford decision pushed Vanderbilt out of top 10? Making sense of recruiting rankings

Brentwood Academy point guard Darius Garland, a McDonald’s All-American, is a five-star prospect and Vanderbilt signee.

Vanderbilt basketball lost the recruiting battle for Romeo Langford, but it still has a high-ranked recruiting class. But where is it ranked now?

Langford, the Indiana Mr. Basketball, chose his home state Indiana Hoosiers over Vanderbilt and Kansas on Monday night. There’s no shame in that for the Commodores, but they were supplanted by Indiana in the top 10 among the 2018 signing classes. Or were they?

Here is a rundown of where Vanderbilt now stands in the recruiting team rankings:

Vanderbilt drops but doesn’t subtract

In the 247Sports composite rankings, Vanderbilt has fallen from No. 4 in the winter to No. 9 in the spring and now No. 12 after Langford’s announcement Monday. However, the Commodores’ signing class has not changed during that drop.

It fell in this ranking for two reasons. No. 1, other teams, like Indiana, have added high-rated players. And No. 2, the 247Sports composite places value on both a player’s individual rating and the number of players in a class. Vanderbilt is ranked No. 12 with three signees, while the top 11 teams each have four or more signees.

Vanderbilt has No. 3 class in quality

So what if the number of players did not matter? Then Vanderbilt would rank No. 3, based solely on the quality rather than quantity of the players.

The 247Sports rating gives Shittu a 0.9964 grade, based on a scale from 0.0 to 1.0. Garland has a grade of 0.9953 and Nesmith is at 0.9786.

That gives Vanderbilt an average grade of 0.9901 per player, the third-highest in the nation. Only Duke (0.9983) and Kentucky (0.9933) have higher averages per player.

Vanderbilt won’t rise in rankings

Vanderbilt is ranked No. 12 in the 247Sports composite, which includes an aggregate of several scouting services. The 247Sports site also produces its own solo ranking, which has the Commodores at No. 6. Rivals.com puts Vanderbilt at No. 11.

Don’t expect the Commodores to climb these rankings because 247Sports and Rivals do not count transfer players in a signing class. Vanderbilt recently added Syracuse transfer Matthew Moyer, a 6-foot-7 forward who must sit out this season.

Vanderbilt has one available scholarship remaining to add a player during the late signing period, which ends May 16. That late addition probably will be another Division I transfer, which will not affect the recruiting rankings.

Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

RECRUITING TEAM RANKINGS

247Sports Composite

(Formula factors player ratings and number of players in class)

1. Duke

2. Kentucky

3. Oregon

4. LSU

5. Kansas

6. UCLA

7. Maryland

8. Texas

9. Indiana

10. Arizona State

11. Michigan

12. Vanderbilt

247Sports Player Ratings

(Only includes average rating per player, regardless of size of class)

1. Duke

2. Kentucky

3. Vanderbilt

4. North Carolina

5. LSU

6. Oregon

7. Villanova

8. USC

9. Kansas

10. Florida

11. Arizona State

12. UCLA

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Brentwood Academy’s Darius Garland looks to pass during their game of the TSSAA Division II-AA basketball state championship against Baylor at Lipscomb University Saturday, March 3, 2018 in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Wade Payne, Special to the Tennessean)